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<p>The recruitment of veterinary professionals for carrying out veterinary controls
and inspections in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. This means that the responsible
department is the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern
Ireland (DAERA).</p><p> </p><p>Veterinary controls and inspections do not only take
place in ports and airports but include work done on farms and in various types of
establishment, including slaughterhouses.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>During the
month of June 2020 (being typical of the base-line position for calendar year 2020)
the number of staff employed by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural
Affairs in Northern Ireland to carry out veterinary controls and inspections was in
the order of:</p><p>- 114 qualified veterinarians,</p><p>- 69 qualified meat hygiene
inspectors, and</p><p>- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.</p><p> </p><p>At that
time the number of staff employed in northern Ireland’s ports and airports, and authorised
to carry out veterinary controls and inspections and participate in the goods clearance
process was of the order of:</p><p>- Veterinarians – 1</p><p>- Portal Inspectors –
41</p><p> </p><p>Inspectors working in the ports are not meat hygiene inspectors but
are portal inspectors who have received training in that specific role. Meat hygiene
inspectors are only employed in DAERA’s Veterinary Public Health Programme which delivers
the Official Controls in Food Business Operator premises on behalf of the Food Standards
Agency for Northern Ireland.</p><p> </p><p>When the grace period provided for by the
Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires Northern Ireland the Department of Agriculture,
Environment and Rural Affairs currently estimates that the number of staff required
to conduct veterinary controls and inspections in Northern Ireland will, in total,
approximate to:</p><p>- 186 qualified veterinarians,</p><p>- 69 qualified meat hygiene
inspectors, and</p><p>- 27 trainee meat hygiene inspectors.</p><p> </p><p>The most
recent estimates for the numbers of staff that will be required to conduct veterinary
controls and inspections in Northern Ireland ports and airports, when the grace period
provided for by the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland expires, is as follows:</p><ol><li>Staff
officially authorised to participate in the goods clearance process:</li></ol><p>-
Veterinarians – 72</p><p>- Officially authorised portal inspectors – 122</p><p>- Officially
authorised portal administrative officers – 80</p><ol start="2"><li>Staff providing
operational support:</li></ol><p>- Industrial grade animal handlers – 12</p><p>- Stevedores
– 72</p><ol start="3"><li>Support staff providing general administrative, professional
and technical services:</li></ol><p>- Veterinarians, Portal Inspectors and admin staff
- 3</p><p> </p><p>DAERA is on track to spend a total of £16m on personnel, infrastructure
and IT systems to the end of the current financial year for the work necessary to
carry out the required sanitary and phytosanitary checks at Northern Ireland’s Points
of Entry.</p><p> </p>
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